In the Box

Instructions

The instruction booklet was divided into 18 pages of clearly marked parts. The instructions contained 38 separate steps to complete the model. At the end of the instruction booklet there were painting and decal application illustrations.

Sprues

Contained in the box were 19 different model part sprues molded in olive green. Also contained in the kit, 8 rubber tires and a thread type tow cable.

Photo Etch

Two sheets of PE are included with the kit.

Clear Plastic

There were two clear sprues of parts for the kit, they were for light lenses and view ports on the top of the vehicle body.

Decal Sheet

The sheet was sparse with vehicle id numbers and stencils. The vehicle had very few areas for the application of decals. Application of the decals went easily, and the carrier film was not very thick.

I hate to mask canopies and helicopters, especially transport ones, have plenty. I am a huge fan of pre-cut masks. Building the Kitty Hawk MH-60L was a lot of fun.

The Eduard masking set offers masks for the front windshield, overhead panels, pilot doors, window sliding doors, chin bubbles, cargo doors, and wheels. You also get masks for the landing lights. This is really a complete set which will help in making this kit.

The masking set comes in a typical resealable package with card stock inside, which protects the masks. The masks themselves are precisely cut from Kabuki tape. This is the best material for the compound curves. There are two sheets, the one is for the sliding cargo doors, and the other has masks for all the other pieces. You will have to add masking fluid to cover some areas but that is to be expected with the large expanses and compound curves.

The instructions are very helpful and show exactly how to use what and where.

Casemate Publishers bring us a book from Polish editorial Kagero, covering the Vittorio Veneto class of battleships (Littorio/Italia, Vittorio Veneto, Roma and an unfished hull Imperio). The book was written by Andrzej Perepeczko and he has done a great research job in his book.

The book is broken down in the following sections.

• Origin
• Design and Equipment
• In Service

The first section covers the historical situation of the Italian Fleet in the interwar years and includes a high-level description of other contemporary battleships. That way you can understand better the relevance of this class within the Italian Fleet.

Mark Lardas holds a degree in Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering from the University of Michigan. Mark spent the next thirty years at the Johnson Space Center doing Space Shuttle structural analysis, and space navigation. An amateur historian and a long-time ship modeler, he has written extensively about modelling as well as naval, maritime, and military history. Mark has authored more than twenty-five books and has worked with Boy’s Life as the Hobby Master. Mark also worked with an English language publication from Hong Kong called English Street. Mark is currently working in League City, Texas.

At the beginning of World War II in Europe, the British were faced with the threat to Egypt and the Suez Canal by the Italians in North Africa. With the fall of France in 1940, the Vichy Government control of the western end of the North African coastline put the British position in further jeopardy. The Italians sent their forces into Egypt, where they were soundly beaten by the British, losing thousands of prisoners of war in the process. Hitler felt forced to aid his Italian allies, and sent General Rommel’s forces to North Africa. After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Allied leaders set up a strategy to evict the Axis Powers from North Africa, and starting in early 1942, American forces began preparing for “Operation Torch”, the invasion of Vichy French controlled Morocco and Algeria, and in November, 1942, Allied forces, mainly American, began landing in North Africa.